Listen Now: 
Māori business advocacy group Te Taumata has slammed the Government’s new $10 million fund to support Māori land development.
Chair Chris Karamea Insley says Te Ringa Hāpai Whenua Fund is an insulting attempt to compensate for changes to the Emissions Trading Scheme which will strip a potential $7 billion from the Māori economy.
The changes mean exotic forests planted on remote and marginal Māori land will no longer qualify for carbon credits.
Mr Insley says about 55 per cent of whenua Māori is currently in forestry, with more than 146,000 hectares of otherwise low productivity land suitable for permanent forestry.
He says the best way to unlock whenua Māori is to allow Māori to fully participate in the carbon economy.
The policy means that rather than Māori helping New Zealand meet its carbon commitments, future governments will have to send money offshore to buy international carbon credits.
RELATED NEWS
